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What an awful week for running backs that was. Le'Veon Bell is lost for the season. Matt Forte has an MCL injury and will be out for a few weeks. Khiry Robinson suffered a leg injury and is out for the season. Reggie Bush tore his ACL and is out for the season. Please, football gods, can we go one week without significant injuries to players and without the running back position being turned upside down? I doubt it.
Rank | Player | Team | Opponent | Analysis |
1 | Devonta Freeman | Atlanta Falcons | @SF | Hasn't found the end zone the last two weeks, but he will this week. |
2 | Todd Gurley | St. Louis Rams | @MIN | He might already be the best RB in football. |
3 | Mark Ingram | New Orleans Saints | TEN | Arguably the most underrated fantasy RB this year, he'll now get even more touches with Robinson out. |
4 | Chris Ivory | New York Jets | JAX | Will find much more room to run this week. |
5 | Jeremy Hill | Cincinnati Bengals | CLE | Operated as the feature back last week. Also, Cleveland Browns run defense. |
6 | LeSean McCoy | Buffalo Bills | MIA | Played well the two weeks before his bye, and should be fully healthy now coming up against a weak Dolphins run defense. |
7 | Doug Martin | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | NYG | He looks even better than his rookie year self. |
8 | Dion Lewis | New England Patriots | WAS | He is so good in this Pats offense. |
9 | DeAngelo Williams | Pittsburgh Steelers | OAK | Taking over for Bell and has been great when filling in for him. Tough matchup, though. |
10 | Adrian Peterson | Minnesota Vikings | STL | Hasn't scored since Week 4. Has been good, but needs TDs. |
11 | Jonathan Stewart | Carolina Panthers | GB | J Stew looks good and he gets a Packers defense that just gave up 3 rushing TDs to the Broncos. |
12 | Jeremy Langford | Chicago Bears | @SD | The Chargers run defense was much better last week, but Langford will get a full workload with Forte out. |
13 | Lamar Miller | Miami Dolphins | @BUF | Three straight weeks with a TD. Bills run defense has been vulnerable. |
14 | Eddie Lacy | Green Bay Packers | @CAR | Looked healthy again against the Broncos, but gets another tough draw this week. |
15 | DeMarco Murray | Philadelphia Eagles | @DAL | The DeMarco revenge game in Dallas is upon us. He's going to have to work hard for his yards against an underrated Cowboys run defense. |
16 | Latavius Murray | Oakland Raiders | @PIT | He might be matchup proof at this point. |
17 | Darren McFadden | Dallas Cowboys | PHI | Are we back in Arkansas circa 2007? |
18 | Ronnie Hillman | Denver Broncos | @IND | Got the majority of carries and the goal-line touches. |
19 | Duke Johnson | Cleveland Browns | @CIN | Has been very consistent and should get a lot of touches in this game, especially with their other RBs struggling. |
20 | Frank Gore | Indianapolis Colts | DEN | Has been really consistent since a slow first two weeks. |
21 | LeGarrette Blount | New England Patriots | WAS | I think the Redskins will get blown out, meaning plenty of carries for Blount to do damage. |
22 | Giovani Bernard | Cincinnati Bengals | CLE | Cleveland Browns run defense. |
23 | C.J. Anderson | Denver Broncos | @IND | Looked like his 2014 self and gets another good matchup this week. Hillman is still probably the starter, but Anderson will get plenty of touches. |
24 | T.J. Yeldon | Jacksonville Jaguars | @NYJ | Fresh off the bye week and comes up against a Jets defense that didn't seem interested in tackling last week. |
25 | Antonio Andrews | Tennessee Titans | @NO | Has easily been the Titans best RB. Should find success against a weak Saints defense. |
26 | Danny Woodhead | San Diego Chargers | CHI | His week-to-week usage is kind of enigmatic right now. |
27 | Charles Sims | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | NYG | Owns a pretty big role in their offense and will definitely be needed in what should be a high-scoring affair. |
28 | Ryan Mathews | Philadelphia Eagles | @DAL | Is a big play waiting to happen, but isn't getting many touches. |
29 | C.J. Spiller | New Orleans Saints | TEN | Should see an uptick in touches with Robinson done for the season. |
30 | Melvin Gordon | San Diego Chargers | CHI | He's not good right now, but the Chargers are intent on feeding him for some reason. |
31 | Shane Vereen | New York Giants | @TB | Might be the most trustworthy fantasy option in their backfield, which isn't really saying much. |
32 | Matt Jones | Washington Redskins | @NE | The Redskins RB situation is a mess. |
33 | Dexter McCluster | Tennessee Titans | @NO | The Titans will probably be throwing a lot this week. |
34 | Isaiah Crowell | Cleveland Browns | @CIN | He has 23 yards on his last 18 carries, but gets a good matchup. If he does anything with it, though, is an entirely different story. |
35 | Orleans Darkwa | New York Giants | @TB | Had to leave last week's game, but should be fine this week. He's looked like their best RB. |
36 | Taiwan Jones | Oakland Raiders | @PIT | Becoming a bigger part of the offense and doing damage with his touches. |
37 | Ahmad Bradshaw | Indianapolis Colts | DEN | Strictly the passing down back, but that's been good for him with the Colts falling behind often. |
38 | Alfred Morris | Washington Redskins | @NE | The Redskins RB situation is a mess. |
39 | Kendall Gaskins | San Francisco 49ers | ATL | He might start, but this offense could be one of the worst of all time with Blaine Gabbert at QB. |
40 | Chris Thompson | Washington Redskins | @NE | The Redskins RB situation is a mess. |
41 | Rashad Jennings | New York Giants | @TB | I don't know how to rank the Giants RBs at this point. |
42 | James Starks | Green Bay Packers | @CAR | Got nearly the same amount of touches as Lacy, but did absolutely nothing with them. |
43 | Christine Michael | Dallas Cowboys | PHI | McFadden is the workhorse, but Michael will see a few touches per game. |
44 | Tevin Coleman | Atlanta Falcons | @SF | He barely plays. |
45 | Karlos Williams | Buffalo Bills | MIA | Should be back this week, but unsure of how many carries he will see.. |
46 | Mike Tolbert | Carolina Panthers | GB | Maybe he'll vulture a goal line TD. |
47 | Bishop Sankey | Tennessee Titans | @NO | Might the new head coach give him a chance. Probably not. |
48 | Jonas Gray | Miami Dolphins | @BUF | Spells Lamar Miller every now and then. |
49 | Tre Mason | St. Louis Rams | @MIN | Saw 15 carries last week. Probably won't this week. |
50 | Pierre Thomas | San Francisco 49ers | ATL | Could see immediate playing time, but might not. |